As the population of diabetics has increased, recent recommendations have called for self-monitoring of blood glucose in which daily variations in the blood glucose level of the patient is monitored by the patient himself/herself. Generally speaking, performing blood glucose measurement involves a puncture implement for puncturing skin and a measuring device for sampling the blood flowing out from the skin punctured by the puncture implement and measuring the blood glucose level in the blood.
An example of the puncture implement is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-502088 and includes a needle, a case in which to movably contain the needle, and a drive mechanism contained in the case together with the needle and operative to move the needle. The puncture implement of this type is discarded after used once.
In addition, the measuring device is ordinarily used in the condition where a sampling implement which has a reagent capable of reaction with glucose and which functions to receive the spot-like deposition of blood (to sample the blood) is mounted thereto. The sampling implement is detachably mounted to the measuring device, and is discarded after one use, like the puncture implement.
In the past, in performing blood glucose measurement (in sampling blood), the puncture implement and the sampling implement have been prepared individually (separately from each other). Therefore, the preparation for blood glucose measurement is troublesome, and it has been difficult to achieve speedy measurement. In short, the operational aspects associated with performing blood glucose measurement have been poor.